Thursday, 5 June 2014

Why volunteers volunteer

Written by Claire Chapman, Information
and Membership Officer, One East Midlands

Volunteers Week, taking place from Sunday 1st
to Saturday 7th June, is a great time to consider why volunteers
volunteer, and as a volunteer myself I know there are many reasons volunteers
do so.

Outside of my role as Information &
Communications Officer for One East Midlands, I have two voluntary roles, one
volunteering in a charity shop and the other as a trustee of a local charity,
and for me volunteering is about giving something back to the community and
supporting causes I believe in.

However at the shop especially the reason
people volunteer varies considerably, including adding it to their CV or UCAS
form, keep them busy during periods of unemployment or retirement, doing it as
part of a University of Edinburgh Award, meeting new friends and potential
other halves, just because they’ve being doing it for years, or for the same
reason I do.

Most volunteers will start volunteering
with one of these reasons for doing so in mind, but what they won’t anticipate
is another great reason, which I will call “the buzz”.

The buzz is that reason for volunteering
that is unplanned for but makes you feel all warm and fuzzy whilst
volunteering. It can come unexpectedly but will come. Here are some examples of
when I’ve had “the buzz” whilst volunteering in the shop:

When you make a customer’s day
by finding them a get a great bargain or just providing a friendly face;

When you receive a massive
donation, especially if you get the donor to sign up for gift aid at the same
time;

When you train up a fellow
volunteer;

When something you’ve chosen to
sell through the website or display in the shop sells faster than you could
have imagined;

When customers keep coming back
during your shift just because they know you’ll be there and be able to help
them;

When you know how much has been
taken through the till during the time you’ll been volunteering and what a
difference it will make to the charity;

And many, many more!

Everyone who volunteers will have their own
buzzes but will pretty much always keep them to their selves.

Now working in VCS communications I know
the benefit of spreading the word, so when I’m volunteering I will happily tell
anyone who inquiries in the shop about volunteering or who is doing their first
shift how great it is and nine times out of 10 they’ll keep volunteering.

So this volunteering week, why not
encourage your volunteers to do the same or what about asking for their buzzes
and use these to create a buzz about volunteering with your organisation.

And a final thing to do this volunteering
week, sign up for our monthly volunteering e-bulletin here
for all the latest volunteering news, events and opportunities of interest to
VCS organisations in the East Midlands.